Day two at the Merry Mule Holiday Tournament was much better than day one for Oblong High School's girls' basketball team, while for Robinson High School's girls' basketball team, it was unfortunately more of the same.

The Lady Panthers bounced back from two disappointing losses Wednesday (Dec. 26) by winning a pair of games Thursday (Dec. 27) to finish 2-2 and salvage a ninth-place finish in the 12-team tournament. Meanwhile, the Lady Maroons dropped two more games Thursday and finished the tournament with an 0-4 mark.

The county squads opened the day taking on each other in Bronze Bracket play, with Oblong coming away with a 46-28 victory.

Oblong came out firing and built a 16-5 lead after one quarter, then the Lady Panthers outscored Robinson 13-8 in the second quarter to build a 29-13 advantage at halftime. Each team scored 10 points in the third quarter to make the score 39-23, then Oblong won the fourth quarter 7-5 to reach the final margin.

After struggling to score on Wednesday, Oblong took the volume approach to shooting against Robinson, hoisting 59 field goal attempts. However, they made just 14 of those (24 percent), including 6-32 from two-point range (19 percent) and 8-27 from three-point range (30 percent). On the other hand, Robinson shot a higher percentage (27 percent), but made just 11-41 attempts, which included a 10-29 performance from inside the arc (35 percent) and a 1-12 effort from long distance (8 percent). Oblong also held an edge at the free throw line, making 10-13 foul shots (77 percent), while Robinson was just 5-9 at the charity stripe (56 percent).

Katie Cheek led OHS with 16 points, 11 rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot, while Nyah Laino posted 14 points, 10 rebounds and two assists. Abbie Dart contributed 11 points, three steals, one rebound and one assist, Hannah Meese netted three points, three rebounds and one assist, Kenzi McIntosh recorded one point, five rebounds and two steals and Aireka Burke added one point and two steals.

In the ninth place game, Oblong again jumped out to a big lead early on their way to a 59-40 win over West Frankfort.

The Lady Panthers ran out to a 20-6 lead after one quarter and led 34-17 at halftime. Each team scored 14 points in the third period to make the score 48-31, then Oblong won the fourth quarter 11-9 to reach the final margin.

Oblong used the three-point line to their advantage, making 11-24 long-range shots (46 percent) and outscoring West Frankfort 33-18 from beyond the arc.

Dart led OHS with 24 points, including seven three-pointers, two steals and one assist, while Cheek collected 16 points, nine rebounds, six steals and three assists. Laino contributed 16 points, three steals and two rebounds, Jalyn Collier netted two points and McIntosh added one point and two rebounds.

Maddie Carpenter and Lexi McLarin led West Frankfort with eight points apiece, while Mazie Burns and Sydney Rich each scored six.

In the 11th-place game, Robinson came out on the short end of a 43-30 decision to Wayne City.

Robinson held a 10-9 edge after one quarter, but Wayne City outscored the Lady Maroons 16-9 in the second quarter to take a 25-19 lead at halftime. The deficit increased to 33-24 after three quarters, then the Lady Maroons were outscored 10-6 in the fourth quarter to prevent any thoughts of a comeback.

Johnson led RHS with 11 points, while Clapp tossed in six, Weber and Strauch scored five points apiece and Andrea Schalburg added three.

Jocelyn Hall led Wayne City with 18 points, while Avery Sidel and Meghan Anderson also reached double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

In Gold Bracket play, Fairfield edged Anna-Jonesboro 37-36 and Edwards County beat Flora 46-35, then Anna-Jonesboro beat Flora 36-31 in the third-place game and Fairfield beat Edwards County 43-38 in the championship game.

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